Diamonds and Dogs

10/14/15

Pay for your next trip with the gains from today's diamond, Trip Advisor (TRIP). Trip Advisor is up over 25% following news rival Priceline will use some of their services in a strategic partnership. Trip Advisor in turn will be able to use Priceline's online travel brands on their booking platform creating a faster more direct way to get everything you want in one place. Good news for Trip Advisor shareholders who needed it. The stock is still down 10% from the August highs following disappointing second quarter numbers.  

Save your money and live better is the slogan for today's dog, Walmart (WMT). The company reported solid quarterly earnings this morning, but in their conference call, lowered their forecast for earning per share next year to a projected 6% to 12% drop. The stock is down 10% to a new 52 week low and 3 year low. It's tough for Walmart to grow since they're located within a short drive of nearly every American. In the conference call, Walmart's CFO blamed the lower earnings on heavy investment spending, but on the brighter side, he did mention that earnings should increase 5% to 10 % in 2019. Walmart will also buy back $20 billion worth of their shares over the next two years to increase value, but that's little consolation to current shareholders.